Actress Natalie Wood drowns - Nov 29, 1981 - HISTORY.com Actress Natalie Wood drowns Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1981, the actress Natalie Wood, who starred in such movies as Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story, drowns in a boating accident near California’s Catalina Island. She was 43 years old. Born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko on July 20, 1938, in San Francisco, California, Wood began her acting career as a child. She gained acclaim for her role as Susan Walker, the little girl who doubts the existence of Santa Claus in Miracle on 34th Street (1947). As a teenager, Wood went on to play James Dean’s girlfriend in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), for which she received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. She also earned Best Actress Academy Award nominations for her performances in Splendor in the Grass (1961) with Warren Beatty and Love with the Proper Stranger (1963) with Steve McQueen.

Wood’s film credits also include West Side Story (1961), winner of 10 Oscars, in which she played the lead role of Maria; Gypsy (1962), which was based on the hit Broadway musical of the same name and co-starred Rosalind Russell and Karl Malden; The Great Race (1965), with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis; Inside Daisy Clover (1966), with Christopher Plummer and Robert Redford; and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) with Robert Culp, Elliott Gould and Dyan Cannon. Wood was twice married to the actor Robert Wagner (Hart to Hart, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery), from 1957 to 1962 and from 1974 to the time of her death. On the night of November 29, 1981, the dark-haired beauty was with her husband on their yacht “The Splendor,” which was moored off Santa Catalina, near Los Angeles. Also on the yacht was the actor Christopher Walken, who at the time was making the movie Brainstorm with Wood.

Neither Wagner nor Walken saw what happened to Wood that night, but it was believed she somehow slipped overboard while untying a dinghy attached to the boat. Her body was found in the early hours of the following morning. Brainstorm, Wood’s final film, was released in theaters in 1983. Related Videos Natalie Wood - Biography - IMDb Natalie Wood Biography Showing all 98 items Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (3) | Trade Mark (3) | Trivia (67) | Personal Quotes (9) | Salary (10) Overview (5) 5' (1.52 m) Mini Bio (1) Natalie Wood was born on July 20, 1938, in San Francisco, California, as Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko. Her parents, Maria Stepanovna (Zudilova) and Nikolai Stepanovich Zakharenko, were Russian-born émigrés, of Ukrainian and Russian descent, who spoke barely comprehensible English; they changed the family name to Gurdin after becoming US citizens.

When she was just four years old, Natalie appeared in her first film, Happy Land (1943). A production company had come to Santa Rosa, California, where the Gurdins were living and Natalie won a bit part of a crying little girl who had just dropped her ice cream cone. With stars in her eyes for her daughter, Mrs. Gurdin packed the family and moved south to Los Angeles in the hopes that more films would come her daughter's way. Unfortunately they did not, at least not at first, and the family continued to scrape by much as they had done in Santa Rosa. In 1946 Natalie tested for a role in Tomorrow Is Forever (1946). She was only seven at the time, and flunked the screen test. Natalie's mother convinced the studio heads to give her another test, and this time she was convincing enough that they gave Natalie the role. In 1947's Miracle on 34th Street (1947), she won the hearts of movie patrons around the country as Susan Walker in a film that is considered a Christmas classic to this day.

Natalie stayed very busy as a child actress, appearing in no less than 18 films in the late 1940s and early 1950s. When she was 16 Natalie appeared in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) with James Dean , Sal Mineo and Dennis Hopper . She played Judy, a rebellious high school student who was more concerned with hanging out with the wrong crowd than being a sweet teenager like her contemporaries. The result was her first Academy Award nomination and a defining moment in her development as an adult actress. She appeared in Splendor in the Grass (1961), West Side Story (1961), Gypsy (1962), and Love with the Proper Stranger (1963). While Natalie was reported to be unhappy making "West Side Story", the film did win Oscars for Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress. In short, it was a smash hit. Although she wasn't nominated for an Academy Award in that one, she did receive nominations for her roles in "Splendor in the Grass" and "Love with the Proper Stranger".

After This Property Is Condemned (1966) in 1966, Natalie stayed away from Hollywood for three years to have time for herself and to consider where she was going. When she did return her star quality had not diminished a bit, as evidenced by her playing Carol Sanders in the hit Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). From that point on Natalie didn't work as much. She made a few television appearances, but nothing of substance with the exception of the TV mini-series From Here to Eternity (1979). After making The Last Married Couple in America (1980), Natalie began work on Brainstorm (1983) in the fall of 1981 with Christopher Walken . She did not live to see it released. On November 29, 1981, she was sailing on the yacht she shared with her husband, Robert Wagner, and their friend Walken, when Natalie fell in the ocean while trying to board the dinghy tied up alongside the yacht and drowned. She was 43 years old.

Natalie had made 56 films for TV and the silver screen and it's hard to say what she could have done while making her comeback. "Brainstorm" was finally released in 1983. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Denny Jackson Spouse (3) Named after director Sam Wood . Her favorite actress was Vivien Leigh and her favorite singer was Bob Dylan . She suffered from a deep fear of drowning after having barely survived an accident when she was a little girl, during the filming of The Green Promise (1949). Her fear was so great that Elia Kazan had to lie - promising a double - and trick her into doing the scenes at the water reservoir in Splendor in the Grass (1961). Following her untimely death, she was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. On her grave, marked Natalie Wood Wagner: Beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother & friend "more than love". Was commonly listed as 5' 3" wearing heels in movie magazines, though her actual height was 5' 0". The Harvard Lampoon often singled her out for derision.

On Saturday, April 23, 1966, she surprised the Lampoon's staff when she became the first performer they voted the year's worst to show up and accept her citation. Reportedly turned down Warren Beatty 's offer to play opposite him in Bonnie and Clyde (1967) because she did not want to be separated from her analyst while the film was on location in the Midwest. Splendour, the name of the yacht Wood was on the night she died, was named after her movie Splendor in the Grass (1961). An accident on a movie set (she fell into a river and almost drowned) when she was 9 years old left her with a permanently weakened left wrist and a slight bone protrusion, which, for the rest of her life, she hid with large bracelets. Regardless of the movie role, or anytime that she was out in public, she always wore a large bracelet on the left wrist.

The rubber dinghy "Prince Valiant" she had allegedly been trying to board after falling from husband Robert Wagner 's yacht that fateful Thanksgiving weekend in 1981, was named after Wagner's movie Prince Valiant (1954), a film the actor considered among his worst. Had planned to produce as well as star in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977), but the leading role of Deborah Blake went to Kathleen Quinlan by the time the film was made. Attended ballet classes as a child with Jill St. John and Stefanie Powers . All three women would go on to have long-term relationships with Robert Wagner . Pallbearers at her funeral were Rock Hudson , Frank Sinatra , Laurence Olivier , Elia Kazan , Gregory Peck , David Niven and Fred Astaire . Gave birth to her first child at age 32, a daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner on September 29, 1970. Child's father is her second husband, Richard Gregson . Gave birth to her second child at age 35, a daughter Courtney Wagner on March 9, 1974. Child's father is her third husband, Robert Wagner .

Her death was kismet, as she always cited a fear of water. Her and co-star Richard Beymer 's singing voices were both dubbed in West Side Story (1961). The woman who dubbed Natalie, Marni Nixon , also dubbed Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964) and Deborah Kerr in The King and I (1956). It was later reported that Wood was disappointed that her singing voice was not use in the movie. Her paternal grandparents were Stephan Zakharenko and Eudoxie Sauchenko, and her maternal grandparents were Stepan Ilich Zudilov and Maria Andreevna Kuleva. She was of Russian and Ukrainian ancestry. Her father was an architect and her mother was a ballerina. She could do a proper plié before she could barely walk. Her mother, Maria, claimed that the family was closely related to the Romanov dynasty. Spoke Russian and English. Though some people cite her mother as being French, her mother is Russian.

The source of this misconception comes from the studio that Natalie worked at when she was a child -- people noticed her mother's accent and when asked if she was French, Maria replied: "Oh yes", a white lie that would contribute to this confusion. Younger sister Lana Wood made a ABC TV special on Natalie's life, The Mystery of Natalie Wood (2004). Was offered a chance to play Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby (1974) under the condition that she screen test for the role. She refused to do the screen test and Mia Farrow was given the part. Turned down Ali MacGraw 's breakthrough role in Goodbye, Columbus (1969). She was cast as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976) quite unexpectedly, without campaigning for the role. Wood explained that when Laurence Olivier would come to Hollywood, she would often be seated with him at the table at formal sit-down dinners. When Olivier decided to make a version of the Tennessee Williams play, he thought of casting Wood, his dinner companion, and her husband, Robert Wagner , in the husband-wife roles of Brick and Maggie. Naturally, they accepted.

Wood knew screenwriter Gavin Lambert as both were intimates of director Randy Suhr . In the early '60s, he wrote a novel about an adolescent Hollywood starlet in the 1930s titled Inside Daisy Clover (1965). After reading the book, Wood telephoned Lambert and said, "I'd kill for that part.". He assured her she was his first choice for the movie, for which he was writing the screenplay. She got the part and Ruth Gordon got her first Oscar nomination as an actress for portraying Daisy's mother. Both she and her sister Lana Wood have played the love interest of Richard Beymer in two separate films: she as Maria opposite Richard's Tony in West Side Story (1961), and Lana as Karen opposite Richard's Dean in Scream Free! (1969) (aka Free Grass). She was the inspiration of High School Musical (2006) star Vanessa Hudgens . Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives." Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 889-890. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.

People magazine (USA) named her one of "The 25 Most Intriguing People of 1976" for the January 3, 1977 issue. Entertainment Weekly placed her on the "100 greatest stars of all time" list, at #70. Voted one of the top sex stars of the 1970s in Playboy magazine. Called "The Most Beautiful Teenager in the World" by Life magazine in 1956. Once interviewed Arnold Schwarzenegger , before his career took off, for the magazine "Hollywood Reporter" in 1979, two years before her her death. The article was entitled "The Body meets the Face". Her death was listed at number 24 on E! Television's 101 Most Shocking Moments in Entertainment. Don Henley wrote the song "Dirty Laundry" to express his outrage at the tabloid press for their treatment of her after her death. Met Robert Redford while attending Van Nuys High School. Redford was later her leading man in Inside Daisy Clover (1965) and This Property Is Condemned (1966).

There could have been two more collaborations, had Wood starred in Barefoot in the Park (1967) and The Great Gatsby (1974), both of which she turned down. "Natalie's Song" by David Pack, was written about Natalie Wood. "Eyes Like Natalie Wood" by Kathy Fleischmann, was written about her. Former stepmother of Katie Wagner . Started smoking at age 16. Gypsy (1962) co-star Morgan Brittany said of Wood, "I never saw her without a cigarette, ever.". Godmother of her daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner was Ruth Gordon , who played Natalie's mother in the film Inside Daisy Clover (1965). Rehearsals for her stage debut in "Anastasia" were to begin in December 1981. Her niece was born in August 1974. She was the subject of the 2001 biography "Natasha" by former attorney Suzanne Finstad . Finstad interviewed nearly 400 people in researching Wood and had the cooperation of her sister, who narrated the audio version.

The book is controversial and makes shocking claims regarding the actress's early sex life, complex relationship with Robert Wagner , level of substance abuse and mysterious death. Had an affair with 43-year-old director Nicholas Ray when she was 16 years old. According to a multitude of publications, other way-older (by at least two decades) men romantically linked to the underage Wood included Raymond Burr , John Ireland and Frank Sinatra . Was the youngest nominee in her category each of the three times she was nominated for an Oscar, the first being when she was 17 and the last when she was 25. Has multiple connections with the James Bond franchise. Her sister, Lana Wood , briefly appeared in Diamonds Are Forever (1971), in which Jill St. John (who is married to Wood's widower, Robert Wagner ) was the lead actress. Wood co-starred in Meteor (1979) with Sean Connery , who played the James Bond character in seven films, and in Brainstorm (1983), she co-starred with Christopher Walken , who was a Bond villain in A View to a Kill (1985).

She also co-starred in From Here to Eternity (1979) with Kim Basinger , who was a Bond girl in Never Say Never Again (1983) opposite Connery. Her widower, Robert Wagner, played Number Two in the Austin Powers trilogy which parodies the early Bond films. Was Maureen O'Hara 's daughter in two movies, one being the classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Natalie referred to Maureen as Mama Maureen till her death in 1981. Columbia Pictures secured the film rights for the Henry De Vere Stacpoole novel "The Blue Lagoon" in the mid-1950s, with Natalie in the role of Emmeline Lestrange. However, the project was shelved for many years and was not filmed until the late 1970s and the film The Blue Lagoon (1980) ultimately starred Brooke Shields . Colombia bought it for the American remake of Blue Lagoon 1949 starring Jean Simmons. The first edition of the movie was made by an English company in 1923, just after the book was written.

Had she lived, she would have become a first-time grandmother on 30 May 2012 when her elder daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner , gave birth to a girl named Clover Clementyne Watson. Wood's death certificate was modified to show some of the uncertainties surrounding the actress' death. The document was amended in August 2012 and changed from accidental drowning to "drowning and other undetermined factors", according to a copy of the certificate obtained August 21, 2012 by The Associated Press. Her longtime friend, actress Hope Lange , delivered a eulogy at her funeral. She was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 1, 1986. She was posthumously awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on December 7, 2007. In 1990, Dennis Hopper told a story on Late Night with David Letterman (1982) of a time when 16-year-old Natalie wanted to have an orgy in a bathtub full of champagne.

Along with another young girl and actor Nick Adams , she and Hopper went up to a cabin in the mountains and filled up the tub with champagne. Natalie wanted to be the first one in. She sat down in the tub and started screaming hysterically because her private parts had been stung. She had to be rushed to the emergency room and the orgy never happened. Admired and wanted to emulate Bette Davis , Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor . Leigh was her favorite actress. Irving Pichel 's partners, William Goetz and Leo Spitz, changed her last name to Wood in honor of director Sam Wood . Her first name Natalie was an Americanization of her Russian name. Co-star and longtime friend Robert Hyatt said of her: "Natalie would get up in the morning and take a Dexie [Dexadryne], then she would have a bowl of chicken noodle soup and white wine for breakfast". Pulled out of The Mirror Crack'd (1980) due to creative differences. She was cast as the Russian astrophysicist Dr. Tatiana Donskaya in Meteor (1979) because she spoke fluent Russian.

In 2015, a retired FBI agent named Donald Wilson claimed he had a four-year affair with Wood starting in 1973. According to Wilson, they met in Idaho when Wood was pregnant and "taking a break" from husband Robert Wagner. Wilson said they kept their romance a secret because the disclosure would harm both Wood's acting career and his FBI work; the two mutually agreed to stop seeing each other in 1977. Her 38-year-old daughter Courtney Wagner was arrested in 2012 for cocaine and heroin possession when police searched her Malibu home after receiving a report of gunshots fired at the house. According to Natalie's sister Lana Wood , Courtney has attempted suicide in the past and for a time was receiving psychiatric care. "My sister would be devastated if she knew how Courtney has ruined her life," said Lana. Personal Quotes (9) You get tough in this business, until you get big enough to hire people to get tough for you. Then you can sit back and be a lady. [in 1961] In so many ways I think it's a bore to be sorry you were a child actor - so many people feel sorry for you automatically.

At the time, I wasn't aware of the things I missed, so why should I think of them in retrospect? Everybody misses something or other. I felt a little funny when we were going to do the bed scene, all four of us, in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). I'm open to suggestions, I'm no prude, but four is a crowd in my book. Fortunately, Dyan Cannon was there. The thought of another woman being in there in the bed helped get me through it. It's not like it sounds. It's just that I don't think I could have done it if it had been me and three men. [on being a child actor] I spent practically all my time in the company of adults. I was very withdrawn, very shy, I did what I was told and I tried not to disappoint anybody. I knew I had a duty to perform, and I was trained to follow orders. [shortly before her death] You know what I want? I want yesterday. [on dating Elvis Presley when she was 18] Elvis was so square, we'd go... for hot fudge sundaes.

He didn't drink, he didn't swear, he didn't even smoke. It was like having the date that I never had in high school. [in 1980] I've always been terrified, still am, of water -- dark water, sea water, or, you know, river water. [on Marilyn Monroe ] When you look at Marilyn on the screen, you don't want anything bad to happen to her. You really care that she should be all right... happy. [on remarrying Robert Wagner ] Sometimes it's better to have the devil you know than the devil you don't. Salary (10) Natalie Wood - Photo 32 - Pictures - CBS News Natalie Wood Photos: Robert Wagner Credit: AP Photo/Steve Wood Los Angeles Sheriff's Dept. homicide detectives aboard the Splendour on their first trip to Hawaii in December 2011, to re-investigate the death of actress Natalie Wood. Ron Nelson, the boat's current owner, is seen to the left, wearing white. Detectives made a second trip in July 2012.

48 Hours Presents Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal Credit: CBS News Dennis Davern, in yellow, former captain of the Splendour, with Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. homicide detectives in Honolulu, Hawaii. Ron Nelson, the boat's current owner, is seen in the blue Hawaiian shirt. 48 Hours Presents Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal Credit: CBS News Authorities amended actress Natalie Wood's death certificate on Aug. 1, 2012, to reflect some of the lingering questions about how the actress died in the waters off Catalina Island in November 1981. The changes include altering her cause of death to "Drowning and other undetermined factors" and adding the statement "Circumstances not clearly established" to how Wood ended up in the water while on a yacht with husband Robert Wagner and actor and co-star Christopher Walken. 48 Hours Presents Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal Credit: AP Photo/Los Angeles County Registrar/County Clerk Natalie Wood, right, poses with her sister, Lana Wood, when they were children. The daughter of Russian immigrants, Wood was born Natasha Gurdin on July 20, 1938, in San Francisco, Calif.

Credit: Lana Wood/Delivered by Newsmakers Natalie Wood with Orson Welles in "Tomorrow is Forever" (1946). 48 Hours Presents Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal Credit: RKO Pictures Actor Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle greets actress Natalie Wood in a scene from the 1947 Christmas classic, "Miracle on 34th Street." Wood got her first role at the age of 4 in a movie called "Happy Land" (1943). By 1946, at age 8, she was making $1,000 a week. 48 Hours Presents Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal Credit: AP Photo/Fox Home Entertainment Young Natalie Wood played the daughter of Gene Tierney in the spectral romantic fantasy "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" (1947). 48 Hours Presents Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal Credit: 20th Century Fox Actress Jane Wyatt fixes the hair ribbon for actress Natalie Wood in Hollywood, Calif., on Oct. 26, 1949.

Wood continued playing roles of young girls until the age of 17, where she landed the role of Judy in the film "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955), opposite James Dean and Sal Mineo. 48 Hours Presents Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal Credit: AFP/AFP/Getty Images Actress Natalie Wood pictured in 1955. In 1950, Wood was the queen of fan magazines and the second biggest actress next to Elizabeth Taylor. During her career, Wood made 56 films for TV and the big screen, among them "West Side Story" (1961) in which she played Maria. 48 Hours Presents Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal Credit: AFP/Getty Images Natalie Wood and James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955). She received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress as the girlfriend of Dean's troubled youth.

48 Hours Presents Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal Credit: Warner Brothers After spending years on the trail of an Indian party that kidnapped his young niece, Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) finally comes upon Debbie, now 15 (played by Natalie Wood) in the John Ford classic "The Searchers" (1956), which also starred Jeffrey Hunter. 48 Hours Presents Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal Credit: Warner Brothers Actress Natalie Wood and actor Robert Wagner cut their wedding cake after their wedding in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Dec. 28, 1957. They divorced six years later and remarried in 1972. Photos: Robert Wagner Credit: AP Photo/DFS Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty in "Splendor in the Grass" (1961). Wood received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for the tale of forbidden love. 48 Hours Presents Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal Credit: Warner Brothers Richard Beymer as Tony and Natalie Wood as Maria in the Oscar-winning musical "West Side Story" (1961). The film received 11 Academy Awards . 48 Hours Presents Vanity Fair: Hollywood Scandal Credit: MGM Natalie Wood starred as the stripper Louise Hovick - a.k.a.

Gypsy Rose Lee - in the film version of the musical "Gypsy" (1962), which also starred Rosalind Russell as "Mama Rose." Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner | Stars Who Married the Same Person Twice | XFINITY Stars Who Married the Same Person Twice 7 of 17 Send to Friend Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner "Rebel Without a Cause" actress Natalie Wood knew she wanted to date actor Robert Wagner from the moment she saw him. The 18-year-old Wood walked into the studio where Wagner was working and arranged a date for the following night. They married one year later, in 1957, despite great protest from Wood's mother. The pair divorced for the first time in 1962, only to remarry a decade later in 1972 and remained together until Wood's mysterious death in 1981. âXFINITY Entertainment Staff (Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. More from this Slideshow Stars Who Marrie...

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Penn filed again for legal separation in 2009, only to withdraw the case once again when the couple reconciled. Two months later, Wright filed for divorce yet again. Their marriage was finally over in 2010 when the divorce became official. âXFINITY Entertainment Staff (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Jamie and Lynne ... It's not easy being the parents of one of the world's biggest superstars. The pressures of raising Britney Spears got the best of Jamie and Lynne Spears, causing the couple to divorce in 2002. After eight years apart, they rekindled their love and got back together in 2010. âXFINITY Entertainment Staff (Photo by Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.

Natalie Wood Autopsy — Actress Sustained Injuries Before Death - Hollywood Life Natalie Wood’s New Autopsy: She Had Bruises… Natalie Wood’s New Autopsy: She Had Bruises On Body Before Death Tue, January 15, 2013 9:55am EST by Chloe Melas 4 Comments Getty, SplashNews, FameFlynet A shocking new coroner’s report claims that the Hollywood star, who drowned in 1981 during a getaway with her husband Robert Wagner and actor Christopher Walken, might not have died of an ‘accidental death.’ Read on for the new autopsy details. Natalie Wood ‘s death has been the subject of much speculation over the past 30 years but a new autopsy report might shed further light as to how the actress died. Natalie’s New Autopsy Report Reveals Evidence That She Sustained Bruises Before Her Death Natalie’s body was found floating in the waters near Catalina Island, a vacation spot near Los Angeles, around 8am on Nov. 29, 1981.

Natalie’s death at the time was ruled an accident and that she fell overboard her 60-foot yacht, The Splendour, while her husband Robert Wagner and good friend and Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken were asleep. The new autopsy report reveals that Natalie had bruises on her face, knees, and ankles before she went into the water. The bruises have been labeled “non-accidental” by the medical examiners office. But the new report does not call Natalie’s death a homicide. “Since there are unanswered questions and limited additional evidence available for evaluation,” Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran wrote in the report. “It is opined by this Medical Examiner that the manner of death should be left as undetermined,’ What Many Believe Happened On The Night Of Natalie’s Death Robert and Natalie were married twice and they had a highly tumultuous relationship. Natalie was filming a movie at the time with Christopher called Brainstorm, and there were rumors that they were having an affair. When the three boarded The Splendour for a getaway after Thanksgiving, a fight reportedly broke out between Robert and Christopher on the night of Nov. 29.

This has been confirmed countless times by the yacht’s captain, Dennis Davern. But unlike Robert’s claim that Natalie went to bed after the fight and then must have fallen overboard because she had been drinking, some don’t believe this story. The captain claims to have heard fighting coming from Natalie and Robert’s room in the late hours of the night. Natalie had admitted to having a fear of “dark water,” and many don’t believe she accidentally fell overboard. Robert also claims Natalie couldn’t swim. Robert admits to fighting with Natalie but that Natalie wasn’t in her room when he came to bed. When Natalie’s body was found, she was wearing a down coat, and socks. The LA County coroner’s office ruled Natalie’s death an accident by drowning and hypothermia. Robert wrote a book called Pieces of My Heart – A Life, in which he talks about his marriages and life with Natalie. In 2008 he told Good Morning America that Natalie’s death was “the most traumatic experience of my life.” Hopefully this new report can shed more information as to how Natalie tragically died.

— Chloe Melas Natalie Wood — The Movie Database (TMDb) Biography From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Natalie Wood (born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko ;July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress. Wood began acting in movies at the age of four and became a successful child actor in such films as Miracle on 34th Street (1947). A well received performance opposite James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and helped her to make the transition from a child performer. She then starred in the musicals West Side Story (1961) and Gypsy (1962). She also received Academy Award for Best Actress nominations for her performances in Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Love with the Proper Stranger (1963). Her career continued successfully with films such as Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). After this she took a break from acting and had two children, appearing in only two theatrical films during the 1970s.

She was married to actor Robert Wagner twice, and to producer Richard Gregson. She had one daughter by each: Natasha Gregson and Courtney Wagner. Her younger sister, Lana Wood, is also an actress. Wood starred in several television productions, including a remake of the film From Here to Eternity (1979) for which she won a Golden Globe Award. Wood drowned near Santa Catalina Island, California at age 43. She had not yet completed her final film, the science fiction drama Brainstorm (1983) with Christopher Walken, which was released posthumously. Description above from the Wikipedia article Natalie Wood, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia. Natalie Wood Findings: Was the Actress Bruised Before She Drowned? - The Daily Beast Frank Worth/Courtesy of Emage International, via Getty Findings Natalie Wood Findings: Was the Actress Bruised Before She Drowned? Did the actress accidentally drown—or was she assaulted before she hit the water? Christine Pelisek on a new report that could cast the glamorous star’s death in a disturbing light.

Christine Pelisek 01.14.13 9:37 PM ET The Los Angeles County coroner’s office released a stunning report Monday that calls into question original findings that Natalie Wood accidentally drowned off the coast of California in 1981. The glamorous star’s death has been reclassified to “drowning and other undetermined factors.” The report, which was completed in May but only released Monday, specifically honed in on unexplained bruises found on the Rebel Without a Cause actress’s arm, legs, neck, and face. Chief medical examiner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran concluded that he was “unable to exclude non-accidental mechanism causing these injuries,” and that “the bruises especially in the upper extremities appeared fresh and could have occurred before she entered the water.” Wood’s case was reopened by the coroner’s office in the fall of 2011 after the L.A. sheriff’s office asked for a reevaluation of the original findings. One of Hollywood’s greatest unsolved mysteries, each new development in the case has stirred up a frenzy of interest.

Because the bulk of the forensic evidence in the case had been destroyed or missing, Sathyavagiswaran based his autopsy findings on a reexamination of the existing evidence: 10 histology slides that were found of the bruises, the fact that Wood had no history of suicide attempts, and new information provided by the sheriff’s department. To be clear, the details of Wood’s death are still murky at best. “There are conflicting statements as to when [Wood] went missing from the boat and whether there were verbal arguments between the [actress] and her husband,” Sathyavagiswaran wrote. He did not reclassify the case as a homicide. Nor was he able to determine exactly when the injuries happened. “This Medical Examiner,” he wrote, however, “is unable to exclude non-volitional, unplanned entry into the water.'' Bill McSweeney, chief detective at the L.A. sheriff’s office, was careful to temper the new findings. “We’ve been working with that information for a long time,” he said. “Nothing has changed.

We have an open case, and we will always keep looking at everything.” According to reports at the time, Wood, then 43, drowned after a night of partying with her husband, actor Robert Wagner, and The Deer Hunter actor Christopher Walken. They were spending the weekend on a yacht called Splendour. On the night of her death, the three had drinks and dinner at a local restaurant on Catalina Island, and then continued drinking back on the yacht, where Wagner and Walken began a verbal fight, according to law-enforcement officials. While they were arguing, Wood went to the bathroom, and later Wagner went to look for her and discovered she was missing. Officials said they believed Wood slipped off the yacht when she went on deck to reattach a dinghy that came loose. Others, such as Natalie’s sister, Lana Wood, and the boat’s captain, Dennis Davern, have said they believed the actress and Wagner quarreled that night about Walken, who was costarring with Natalie in a movie. In 2011, Davern, who was on the yacht the night the actress died, and Lana Wood, asked the sheriff’s department to reopen the case.

Davern along with Marti Rulli, who co-authored a book with Davern about the night Wood drowned, delivered a package to the sheriff’s department containing six signed statements from Lana Wood, Davern, a woman on a nearby yacht who claimed she heard Wood screaming for help, and Roger Smith, a Coast Guard staffer who helped recover Wood’s body. The sheriff’s department reopened the case and re-interviewed the witnesses, but has not made any arrests in the case. In the new autopsy findings, Sathyavagiswaran reported that because of the partially digested food material found in her stomach, Wood most likely drowned at midnight, one-and-a-half hours before the call from the Splendour came at 1:30 a.m. reporting her missing. “She drowned within a short time of her entry into the water,” he wrote. Wood was found the following morning floating face up in the Pacific Ocean and wearing a blue-and-red flannel nightgown, argyle socks, and a red down jacket.

The dinghy was discovered near the shoreline with the key in the ignition in the off position, the gear in neutral, and the oars tied down—indicating the boat had never been used, according to the report. Natalie Wood began her acting career at the age of 4 and starred in dozens of movies. She was transformed from a well-known child actress to a sought-after movie star in 1955, after she starred opposite James Dean and Sal Mineo in Rebel Without a Cause. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role. Two years later, she beat out Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn for the title role in Marjorie Morningstar. In 1961, she starred in West Side Story and Splendor in the Grass. And, in 1962, she starred in Gypsy. Wood married Robert Wagner twice. They married in 1956, divorced in 1965, and remarried in 1972. She later starred in such films as Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice and Meteor. She was working on the MGM production Brainstorm with Walken when she drowned over Thanksgiving weekend.

READ THIS LIST Yacht Captain: Robert Wagner Responsible for Death of Natalie Wood | Fox News Yacht Captain: Robert Wagner Responsible for Death of Natalie Wood Published November 18, 2011 Facebook 0 Twitter 0 livefyre Email Print A yacht captain said Friday that he lied to authorities about Natalie Wood's mysterious death, and blames the late actress' husband, Robert Wagner, for her drowning off the coast of Southern California. Thirty years after her drowning was ruled an accident, a homicide investigation has been opened in the death of the Oscar-nominated actress. Wood drowned after spending several hours drinking on Catalina Island and a yacht with husband Robert Wagner , fellow actor Christopher Walken and the ship's captain, Dennis Davern. Davern told NBC TV's "Today" show on Friday that he made mistakes by not telling the truth about events leading to her death, and urged Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide investigators to reopen the case. "Was the fight between Natalie Wood and her husband Robert Wagner what ultimately led to her death?" morning show host David Gregory asked. More On This... "How so?" "Like I said, that's going to be up to the investigators to decide," Davern said.

Davern said he believes Wagner intentionally kept the investigation into Wood's death low profile, and didn't do everything he could have done. When Gregory pressed Davern for supporting details, the captain said that was the duty of investigators. Wagner's rep Alan Nierob released a statement on the matter: "Although no one in the Wagner family has heard from the LA County Sheriff's department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of the LA County Sheriff's Dept. and trust they will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of Natalie Wood Wagner is valid, and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30 year anniversary of her tragic death," Davern was not immediately available for comment. Natalie Wood's sister, Lana, told TMZ Thursday that she believes Wagner withheld information from authorities after the drowning. This seems to contradict earlier statements from Lana Wood that Wagner had nothing to do with her sister's death. Los Angeles County sheriffs will speak to reporters Friday about the decision to take another look at Wood's nighttime demise on Nov. 29, 1981. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said Thursday the renewed inquiry was prompted by unspecified new information about Wood's case.

The Los Angeles Times quoted Sheriff Lee Baca as saying recent comments by Davern, who was interviewed for a book project and whose comments from a 2000 article by Vanity Fair are being featured in a new print edition and a "48 Hours Mystery" episode that focus on Hollywood scandals. In Vanity Fair, Davern is quoted as saying that Wood and Wagner fought in their cabin before the actress went missing. Coroner's officials ruled her death an accidental drowning, perhaps caused by her slipping off the boat while trying to tie down a dinghy. But Wood's sister Lana told TMZ the actress was deathly afraid of water. Coroner's officials said that Wood was "possibly attempting to board the dinghy and had fallen into the water, striking her face." It is not the first time Davern has contradicted statements he and others made to investigators after Woods' death, and the magazine notes that he has told his story through tabloids and has been shopping for a book deal for years. Sheriff's officials are also hoping for tips from the public that may shed new light on how Wood ended up drowning.

Wood, a three-time Oscar nominee famous for roles in " West Side Story ," `'Rebel Without a Cause" and other Hollywood hits, was 43 when she died. She and Wagner, star of the TV series "Hart to Hart," were twice married, first in 1957 before divorcing six years later. They remarried in 1972. Wagner wrote in a 2008 autobiography that he blamed himself for his wife's death. He recounted the night of Wood's disappearance, during which the couple and Walken drank at a restaurant and on the boat. Wood went to the master cabin during an argument between her husband and Walken. The last time Wagner saw his wife, she was fixing her hair in a bathroom mirror and she shut the door. Wagner wrote that despite various theories about what led Wood to the water, which she feared, it was impossible to know what exactly happened. "Nobody knows," he wrote. "There are only two possibilities; either she was trying to get away from the argument, or she was trying to tie the dinghy. But the bottom line is that nobody knows exactly what happened." Later in the book, Wagner wrote, "Did I blame myself?

If I had been there, I could have done something. But I wasn't there. I didn't see her." He wrote that he has never returned to Catalina Island. Phone and email messages to Walken's publicist from the Associated Press were not returned Thursday. Walken and Wood were co-stars in "Brainstorm," which was the actress' final big screen role. - The Associated Press contributed to this report. Advertisement

Question: Who was twice married to actress Natalie Wood?
Answer: Robert Wagner